Timeline for wastewater peer review set

David Still II

Thursday

Nov 11, 2010 at 2:00 AMNov 11, 2010 at 11:00 PM

To prevent an "endless pursuit" of a National Academy of Sciences peer review of the Cape’s nutrient loading studies, the Barnstable County Commissioners set a deadline of July 1, 2011, for pursuing their own such review.

County will move on its own if no deal with NAS by July

To prevent an “endless pursuit” of a National Academy of Sciences peer review of the Cape’s nutrient loading studies, the Barnstable County Commissioners set a deadline of July 1, 2011, for pursuing their own such review.

Responding to a letter from the Orleans Board of Selectmen, supported by nine other towns, the commissioners agreed to delay a decision on a county-sponsored review on the Massachusetts Estuaries Program nutrient loading findings until that time.

MEP, through the UMass Dartmouth, is establishing the total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs, for nutrients entering Cape embayments. These in turn are used to develop strategies to reduce those nutrients to levels the water bodies can handle. For coastal waters, the key nutrient is nitrogen, and the primary source is wastewater from septic systems.

While there are some lower-cost solutions such as wetlands restoration for specific areas, large-scale sewering is seen as the most viable solution. The cost of such a solution has made towns such as Orleans take a step back to ensure the science behind it is valid.

The commissioners’ letter was drafted by Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb, who got the go ahead to present it from the Collaborative Nov. 10. The letter, signed by all three county commissioners, supports the pursuit of a National Academy of Science peer review of the estuaries program, but only if its scope and funding source can be locked in by July 1, 2011.

In the meantime, work on a county-initiated peer review will continue. According to the letter, decisions on how a county-sponsored review goes forward will not be made until after the July 1, 2011 deadline. At the Water Protection Collaborative’s Nov. 10 meeting, a detailed outline for what a county-sponsored peer review would look like was discussed and supported.

Gottlieb told the commissioners that in his private conversations with NAS officials prior to the Oct. 29 forum, he learned that they “don’t have very much interest in the study as we’ve scoped it.”

In particular, he said, NAS is not interested in analyzing the MEP methodologies, but rather the larger regional and national implications of for implementing the federal Clean Waters Act. Given that, and the lack of any lead agency or town, finding funding and a sponsoring group for what could be a $600,000 study could be difficult.

Last month, Stephen Parker of the NAS said such a study could run between $450,000 and a million dollars.

Gottlieb said that the timeline allows towns to bring funding articles to town meeting, let legislators at the state and federal level to look at what can be done there, and sttil fix an end point for such considerations.

Commissioners Chair Pat Flynn of Falmouth expressed hope that today’s (Nov. 12) Cape Cod Selectmen & Councilor’s Association meeting, where peer review of the estuaries program and the potential participation of the National Academy of Sciences was to be the topic, could be a time for towns to come together on this issue.

That meeting partially dictated the timing of the commissioners’ response letter.

Gussie McKusick of Orleans, the commissioners’ appointee to the collaborative, asked that a copy of the letter be made available that day to be distributed to towns and those likely to attend the Association meeting. By Wednesday evening, the letter had been distributed to boards of selectmen and town officials across the Cape.

But even as the commissioners prepared to sign their letter, at least one member of the Orleans Board of Selectmen, which got the ball rolling on the request, was backing away from the NAS.

Collaborative member and Orleans Selectman Sims McGrath explained to the commissioners that after the Oct. 29 meeting with NAS officials his opinion shifted.

“I see the NAS as no longer being able to answer the question in a reasonable timeframe,” McGrath told the commissioners, mirroring comments he made at the collaborative meeting.

McGrath also said that the question the NAS seeks to answer is not the one Cape towns need with regard to the work of the estuaries program.

At the collaborative meeting held immediately prior to the county commissioners’ meeting, Gottlieb provided an outline of for an independent peer review of the MEP data to answer specifically whether towns can rely on its conclusions in moving forward with wastewater planning.

As part of that discussion, Gottlieb raised questions of perception about any peer review not conducted by the NAS. Characterizing the problem, he asked whether any effort by the county would be “seen as a poor stepchild to the NAS piece,” regardless of the expertise and validity of the effort.

During the meeting, Eastham collaborative member Jane Crowley said that such a review would be to benefit the entire region and not “a fringe group of citizens who may have self-motivated interests.”

The Orleans group that initiated the NAS discussions is ad-hoc, and not formally part of any town or governing body.

Gottlieb said that among the problems with the discussions with the NAS is that “a lot of people are calling purporting to speak for Cape Cod… they’re having a tough time sorting it out.”

Barnstable DPW Director Mark Ells, who serves as the collaborative’s vice chair, told the collaborative that the town continues to move forward with its program of work. This week, the town’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee looking at possible infrastructure fixes for nutrient loading in the western part of Barnstable submitted a series of questions to the collaborative about the science of the MEP (see related story).

“Timely answers are critical to us,” Ells said. “Credible answers are important to us.”

When it comes to the peer review under consideration by the county, Gottlieb said that there is a commitment from Howes to make data collected as part of the MEP available for such a peer review. He was scheduled to meet with MEP director Dr. Brian Howes and the UMass chancellor Nov. 10 to ensure an understanding about access to the MEP information.